Damages
by TheHarlequinRevolver
Summary: One fact that always astonished people about the town of Stilwater was its crime record.It was reported that despite the many illicit activities that occurred in the town,the only crime that ever got someone in jail was littering.However,when the Stilwater Police finally managed to nab the most notorious female criminal in the country,the record was set set to be broken.
1. Heartless

**Two word prompt: Psychopathic and plea-bargain**

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One fact that always astonished people about the town of Stilwater was its crime record. It was reported that despite the many illicit activities that occurred in the town, the only crime that ever got someone in jail was littering on public property. That said, when the Stilwater Police finally managed to nab the most notorious female criminal in the country, the record was set to be broken.

Elizabeth H. Monroe, more professionally known as the Boss, the Stilwater Butcher, or mostly just Liz, was now sitting smugly in the town's aged courthouse awaiting her trial. However, her charges were hardly her main concern.

Liz was the head of the most prestigious organization that had its headquarters in the small Michigan town. The posse, mainly known as Third Street Saints, prided themselves on their energy drinks, movies, and purple platinum pistols. Unfortunately, this celebrated group also happened to be the most dangerous and profitable gang in the country. Despite the typical hatred for gang culture, the esteemed Saints garnered quite a lot of attention from the public. Stilwater residents lived under their control indirectly, and most of them thought that this was a very good thing. As long as their mob operations didn't interfere with their daily life, the gang was free to operate as necessary. Most of the time the cops looked the other way if they saw a quick flash of purple or heard a few bangs while on the night shift. After all, most of the government was paid a good deal of money to do so. Children idolized them, teens wanted to be them, and adults secretly thought that maybe they weren't so bad. The Saints ruled Stilwater, but if Liz's true ruling proved her to be guilty, things were going to take a turn for the worst.

Involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, grand larceny, assault and battery, homicide, drug possession and countless amounts of every degree of murder were just a few of the charges that the red haired woman had accumulated over the ten years she had been in the business. These crimes hadn't just been committed in Stilwater, either. The Saints' operations spanned the state and even the country, most notably in the neighboring city of Steelport. It has been said that this success wouldn't have been attainable without their somewhat noble leader. She wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but what she lacked in intelligence she made up for in her strength and passion. Although Liz prided herself on only attending jail a few times, her sentence didn't seem to be too promising this time around. She was being charged for life in prison, and this was unsurprisingly not the first time this had happened. Her philosophy was if she could get out of it once, she could sure as hell do it again. Of course, this would have to be done by forcefully breaking out of jail and mauling more than a few people with little weapons. She always tried to put these kinds of plans in the back of her mind.

Her useless lawyer sat beside her, his hands figuratively tied. The trial was seconds away from beginning, and as they rose in honor of the judge, an unpleasant lump began to materialize in his throat. They were going to need a miracle if they wanted to get their desired verdict, and getting help from God didn't sound too promising when dealing with a gangbanger. He had pushed Liz to go for a plea bargain, or at least something that would be less selfish than a not guilty plea. When she kept on pushing his ideas away, he essentially gave up on her. If there was one thing Legal Lee knew about working with any gang member, it was that they weren't going to budge once they made up their mind. Besides, there really wasn't much hope left; with this woman's reputation there really wasn't anything he could do. He knew she could and would pretend she wasn't guilty either way, but everyone in the jury knew who she was and they weren't going to let her go free. The arrogant grin still hadn't moved from Liz's face as the bailiff gave her a stiff glare, and soon her gaze had gone from him to the judge.

She was the same bitch that had done Johnny's trial, which she had thankfully "taken control of" years before. If someone was to ask Liz about Johnny Gat or his court trial that she had interrupted, a chuckle would escape her lips. She would probably tell you about her second in command in a fashion that would make you laugh along with her. However, you probably wouldn't laugh at how she managed to get Johnny out of getting the electric chair. Like she usually did, she used force and a hell of a lot of ammo. That event took place in the same courtroom that she was in currently, and the memories that it brought back to her made her smirk fade into a thin line.

It was hard to smile when she realized that it was very possible that she too could get the chair. It was also hard to have fun while acting like an asshole while thinking of him. People said that they were two peas in a pod, and if there was one thing that they could both do cooperatively it was act like a pair of assholes. Johnny especially fit the part for it, as well; he was cocky, egotistical, trigger happy and downright hot as hell. They had been best friends for nearly ten years, and nobody ever had the balls to come between them.

That is, until he passed away. The only one who was able to tear them apart was Death himself.

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**Ok, yeah, I know I have no excuse for not updating a story in almost 4-5 months, I suck, blah blah blah ****_just read this_****. It probably won't turn into a story but I wanted to put it on here to show that I'm not dead. I've been developing Liz as a character and I actually have like 12 pages of random prompts written with her in them, so that technically counts as progress. Just to make it clear, this story has nothing to do with Smoke in Mirrors. I just like writing random crap and hoping you guys like and review it. In fact, PLEASE REVIEW THIS.**

**YEAH.**

**~HQR**

**PS- I don't even know what this title means.  
**


	2. Skyfall

_Skyfall_

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An ever so slight crooked smile made its way upon the judge's face as she watched Liz and her lawyer rise below her. She had been looking forward to this trial for weeks. Knowing that that bitch had been locked up in jail gave her a gross sense of satisfaction; in fact, the entire judicial branch of Stilwater seemed to be in an ecstatic mood ever since the announcement of the gang leader's upcoming trial. Now that the day was officially here, she longed to hear the words "guilty as charged" come out of the jury's mouth. Even if the sentence wasn't exactly what she wanted, she would be sure to assign a little more of a punishment than the defendant deserved. As long as she ruled the courtroom, this nasty woman that sat below her would be getting the chair just like her comrade was supposed to years before.

The honorable Judge Lucy Melmack glanced over her courtroom one more time as she shuffled the case papers in front of her. It felt like a drama was about to play out in front right of her as she watched two lawyers stand up below her. One she knew very well; he was a man of color with a lackluster tweed suit, and his stuffed briefcases were stacked up on the defendant's table. His name was, ironically enough, Legal Lee, and the last time he was in her courtroom was when she had to fend for herself with a shotgun while Johnny Gat escaped from his own trial. Seeing Legal Lee always meant bad luck for the judge, and she avoided speaking with him out of the courtroom at all costs.

The woman next to him had an aura that was entirely her own. She only knew Liz Monroe as a cocky bitch who didn't give anyone in law enforcement the time of day other than to kill them. Despite her bitter hatred for the gang leader, she really didn't know much about her. She knew that she was somewhat famous and had enough people on her side to take down cities, and possibly even states. However, her personal knowledge about her lacked any sort of clarity. All she knew was that the woman was known to have impeccable taste in fashion, but it wasn't showing today. The twenty-something lady had showed up in a black peplum dress and a leather jacket, along with a pair of dark Louis Vuittons, which wasn't exactly Judge Melmack's idea of a courtroom outfit.

The man who sat behind the prosecution table was much different. He didn't have any gang scum sitting next to him, and his neatly combed and slicked hair was peppered with enough grey to make him look experienced but also very attractive. His navy blue suit and red tie gave him an air of professionalism, and to top it off his shoes didn't even have a speck of dirt on them. He was clean cut, presumably a gentleman, and a very obvious choice for a prosecuting lawyer. The district loved to appoint guys like this to represent them. Judge Melmack knew this very well; all prosecution lawyers were the same in this town, right down to the unforgiving simper they flashed to defendants throughout the trial. Arrogance was radiating off of him, and no words had even been exchanged yet.

The judge smiled to herself once again and pushed up her spectacles. This was _definitely_ going to play out like an unforgiving drama.

After looking through her glasses, he frowned when she saw that the defendant was currently texting in the courtroom and ignoring the other lawyer's snarky smirks. Now was time to bring order to the court.

The judge slammed the gavel down onto her table, and the jury jumped a bit when the loud bang rang throughout the room. Legal Lee even jumped a bit and gripped the table; however, but his client barely even looked up.

Judge Melmack redirected her authority and attention towards the defendant and gave her a frightening look.

"There are no electronics allowed in my courtroom. If you wish to make it out of here alive, you'll put that contraption away before I take it from you." she boomed. Her voice was more powerful then Liz had remembered, and with a loud sigh the phone soon slid back into her pocket. Regardless of whether or not the electronic was out, Liz had just done something with her device that nobody was expecting.

She had texted for backup.

She wasn't sure if she got the number right since the phone she was using was Legal's, but if she was able to get lucky she had just texted Pierce and alerted him of her situation. She hadn't exactly communicated with any Saints since she had been incarcerated, but she was certain that her new second in command was aware of the events surrounding her and her trial. She also happened to be upset that nobody had even attempted to bail her out. Even though she wasn't eligible for bail, someone could have at least sent a Saint to _try_ to help her. Now wasn't the time to complain about being left to rot in jail, though. She had a trial to worry about.

As the hot shot prosecuting lawyer stood up to make his opening statement, his sneer made her hands turn clammy. The thought of not getting out of this scared the ever living shit out of her.

What if she couldn't pull it off?

What if Pierce didn't come?

These thoughts raced through her mind like a criminal in a high speed police chase, and she couldn't help but wonder if she would be able to make it out one more situation. Could she live free for one more day?

Was this the time and place for her luck to run out?

Surely she could escape before they put her in the chair, right?

Would she even get the chair?

Was the sky going to fall before she made it out of this courtroom?

"Miss Monroe!" a voice in front of her snapped. Judge Melmack was glowering down at Liz once again for not paying attention, and the stress began to creep up on the gang leader in the form of bile in her throat. Her eyes were wide open now, and instead of sighing lazily her body became as stiff as a board as she was stared at by the entire jury.

The once invincible woman was now as vulnerable as a rose stripped of its thorns. For just those few moments she was no longer a gun slinging gangbanger. She was now a person like everyone else; a plain yet cruel person that was about to deserve everything she was about to get. She was useless, and although now was the worst possible time to prove this she didn't feel like she could control herself anymore.

It was then that she decided to shakily stand up. Her ankles shook from the height of her stilettos along with her nerves, and she gripped down on the table in front of her for support. The people in the courtroom stared at her untamed wavy locks and her smeared smoky eye makeup. No longer was she the person they had expected, and as they saw her mouth open to utter a few words, they waited with bated breath for her speech. She was undoubtedly raw and exposed, and whatever she had to say was going to be interesting nonetheless.

Legal Lee put a hand on her back to support his client, and in a sudden motion she smacked his hand away. The jury flinched a bit but still stayed attentive, and the opposing lawyer leaned back against his table. It was obvious that his opening speech had been interrupted, and he wasn't going to be able to recover this lost time.

After taking a gulp of air to suppress the bile in her throat, Liz took a few steps out to speak to everyone in the room. It was her time now, and even if this environment was seemingly controlled there was no way she wasn't going to get her two cents in.

"I wanted to take a few minutes to…" She paused midsentence, trying to figure out the words to present to the people in front of her. "To…explain myself."

She knew doing this was entering dangerous territory, and what she was about to do could end very good or very bad. She peeked back at Legal, who was rubbing his hand in agony and watching her at the same time.

In an effort to regain her confidence, she took a few more steps out in front of the judge. After taking another deep breath, she began to speak again.

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**I appreciate the reviews on this, guys. Keep them coming. :)**


	3. I am not a Psycho

Pierce Washington stared down at his phone in confusion and slight fear when he saw who had texted him. When the replacement leader of the Saints got a text message from the notorious Legal Lee, it usually meant that someone was trying to sue them again. However, within the past month all of his conversations with his gang's lawyer always had to do with Liz. Whether it was updates on a court date or the former gang leader's sanity level, he talked to Legal at least once a week so he could have something to tell the crew if any of them had some sort of inquiry about their red haired comrade. As much as the man didn't want to admit it, Liz was a hell of a lot better at leading a criminal organization than he was. Fortunately, none of the boys seemed to notice this, which meant he was doing a halfway decent job.

Before opening the text, Pierce sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead in thought. Wrinkles had started sinking into place since he had taken over Liz's job, and he now realized why she never got much sleep in the first place. Leading a goddamn gang wasn't just gruesome; it was flat out exhausting. He occasionally wondered how Liz was doing in jail. Fending for herself was something she had allegedly done since she joined the Saints, but with the little knowledge Legal had given him about her and his understanding of her previous lockups, the outlook on her common sense didn't sound too good. Staying in prison for long didn't do anyone any good; he had learned that personally. The thought of bailing her out went through his mind a few times, but the level of bail that had been put on the Saint was outright preposterous. As an alternative, he had also considered going to the court dates to at least give her a shoulder to lean on since Johnny certainly wasn't there to do it. In spite of this, he still hadn't taken any action at all.

Pierce was very well aware that his boss' trial was today, and he regretted not going. He had been questioning why the small bit of a conscience he had left had told him to stay at the HQ that day. Not a single bone in his body wanted to think that he wasn't there because he wanted to milk out the whole "replacement leader" bit. Pierce was a slightly selfish man; everyone including him knew this. However, he wasn't egocentric enough to not care about one of his best friends.

The white suited man pressed a button on his phone and squinted to read the text that Legal Lee had sent. At first glance, it was more than obvious that he wasn't the one that had composed it. The lack of grammar and capitalization was the first clue, and the word choice gave things away even more. It was a fairly simple request, and with the details he currently had about the Boss' situation, he took a wild guess that she was the one who had taken her own lawyer's phone to text during a real criminal trial.

Pierce smiled a little bit at the single word that was on the page. It was no laughing matter, but he couldn't say that he was surprised that Liz was texting during something as important as this. Not even incarceration would stop her from at least trying to be an asshole.

Although the text only said "help", it was enough to get his attention. After glancing around the posh penthouse for Shaundi or some other Saint, the black man stood up and brushed off his silk suit before strutting towards the elevator.

It was time to give Liz the help she really needed.

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"There's no way in hell you all are going to come out of here liking me. I thought I should get that straight before I even start saying anything else." she said boldly. "Fuck, I don't even _expect_ you to like me. I just want you to hear me out even if I say things you don't want to hear."

The entire courtroom fell silent as Liz Monroe began to become her own lawyer. She was never the sharp-witted type; in fact, she had never graduated high school. If there was one thing she did learn how to do well, though, it was public speaking. When she was younger, one of her many pet peeves was when she was not being heard.

With the little motivation she had in her younger days, she had been determined to change that.

And it worked.

In an effort to keep her knees from locking, she carefully took a few steps around the courtroom and continued her speech with as much calmness as she could muster. The bailiff didn't bother stopping her; he instead kept a very close eye on each move she took. It had been so long since she had talked to this many people, and trying to resist the urge to puke all over the grass green carpet was proving to be a difficult task. Perseverance was the key to getting out of this stuffy room alive, and she was not one to give up so easily. She cleared her throat for what felt like the thousandth time before she continued once again.

"I grew up here in Stilwater. It wasn't the best life in the entire world, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I wasn't the greatest teenager either, and being a high school dropout didn't really leave me with many options." After a brief pause, she opened her mouth another time to reveal her true profession almost as if it was a secret she had been keeping from everyone. She knew the entire room knew what she was about to say, and that unfortunately didn't make saying it any easier.

"…so, I joined a gang." The jury looked at her quizzically, obviously questioning her judgment. Their looks made anger begin to bubble underneath her skin, and controlling it was starting to become impossible. Before she could comprehend what she was doing, she raised her voice to the crowd.

"Saying that makes it easy for you to judge me, but before you open your fucking mouths I've got one thing to say to you. I climbed my way up the career ladder just like you did. I went from being the silent bitch that followed orders to the good leader that gives them. I didn't want to be like the people in charge of me; I needed to be different. I set out to be the best I could be, and I'm pretty sure I did that. I take care of people for a living, and I mean that in more ways than one."

Some jury members shifted uncomfortably in their seats, and Judge Melmack was quickly starting to fall out of her temporary state of shock. How could she let this go on in her courtroom?

Before she could grab her gavel, the defendant began to speak again.

"I take care of everyone underneath me if they need anything and I take care of people that get in my way in Stilwater and in Steelport. But if there's one thing you're going to know about me, it's that I'm not a goddamn psychopa-"

Liz was hastily cut off before she could finish her own opening statement. The slamming of a gavel and the glower of Judge Melmack had fallen upon her, and although challenging the law was something she did regularly she felt like now wasn't the time to do it.

"I believe you've done enough damage, Miss Monroe. Get back in your seat at once." murmured the judge, not wanting to complicate the situation. Liz merely stared up at her, not knowing what to do.

_"If Johnny was still here he would have bailed your ass out by now."_

The small thought surged through her head like a bolt of electricity traveling through a circuit board. She tried to forget it, but it was no use. The statement was embedded in her mind, making her eyes slam shut.

"Miss Monroe!" shouted the judge. She was hitting the gavel on the table rapidly now, and each time it landed on the wood a sensation made the gang leader's head throb. Now would have been the perfect time for a cigarette, which was a luxury she didn't have. Her hands shrunk down into small, clammy fists, and she was once again frozen in her spot.

For the second time that day, she felt powerless.

And there was nothing she could do to change that.

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**REVIEWS. I LOVE THEM. /cries tears of joy**

**No, seriously, thanks to everyone that did review. It means so much to me and I value everyone's opinion! I also just love reading what people think. :)**

**Anyway, I'm thinking of ending this in like two chapters so I can get back to my main fic, but that might change. We'll see how things go.  
**


	4. Palladio

**Sorry for the delay, I've been running out of ideas so I guess this means this story has almost run its course. :\ I know this chapter isn't as good. It's a little slow and rushed and I know that. It's no excuse, but I promise the pace will pick up once we get out of the courtroom. **

**Like I said, I'll be continuing for a few more chapters. This wasn't intended to be anything more than a oneshot, actually.**

**Please continue reading and reviewing, I ****_really_**** appreciate it! **

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_Palladio_

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It wasn't long before the leader of the Saints soon found herself helplessly restrained from making any more comments. The bailiff, who had also had enough of her outbursts, quickly followed the orders to handcuff her wrists to prevent any future flare ups from the fiery haired woman.

In a surprising move, she had additionally agreed with Legal Lee to keep silent for the rest of her trial. She had already incriminated herself to the point of no return, and now the single thing they could do to lessen her sentence was to remain hushed for the time being. The possibility of the sky falling really felt probable now, and instead of dozing off or being an asshole Liz forced herself to stare down at the wood of the desk in front of her. Her movements were greatly limited because of the cuffs, and without any sort of conscience inside of her to make her feel bad she forced herself to think of what was going to occur after a few more grueling hours.

If Pierce didn't get his ass in that courthouse, the noble Judge Melmack would get her revenge.

Or, if you were looking at things through the perspective of a citizen, a hardened criminal would be getting what she deserved as long as her accomplice didn't catch up to her.

It was true that sometimes good things happened to bad people. She was a living example of this.

But when this happens, the moral people usually got their retribution in the end.

The grain of the desk was starting to flow together into a murky reddish brown in her eyes, and she couldn't help but wonder if the blended shade was from the tears forming in her eyes.

The last time she had shed a single tear was at Johnny's funeral, and she would never be willing to discuss that. She was sure that she would never mention these snivels to anyone once this was over.

That is, if she even made it out of the courtroom.

The prosecuting lawyer's opening statement and witnesses had gone by in a motionless blur. Although time had been passing for a good two hours, numerous people in the room still weren't sure if they had been there for merely two minutes or for more than an eternity. Most of the time was wasted by showing the jury how ruthless Liz had been to Stilwater and their sister city, Steelport.

Nobody had even bothered to mention how the Saints had protected the Row for the past ten years. They had also neglected to notice that under the Saints leadership, Steelport had been saved from martial law.

These weren't excuses to ignore the law on Liz's behalf, but they were the only arguing points that remained for her.

The trial slugged on at an incredibly slow rate. What was supposed to be the trial of the decade had turned into absolutely nothing within an hour.

What none of them knew was that something was about to happen in the courtroom that not even the defendant was expecting.

What was even more shocking was that someone was about to go out with a very pronounced _bang_.

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It wasn't long before Pierce Washington had literally thrown himself in his Torch and began to drive to the Stilwater District Courthouse unaccompanied. Despite the rowdiest movement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing on his classic radio station, he gripped the wheel calmly and checked that his pistol was ready in his pocket. His plan was simple; go in, get Liz, and get the fuck out of there before someone had both of their heads on a chopping block. His ammo was limited along with his time, and if he was going to be punctual he was also going to have to have more than a small plan. Unfortunately for him, this was all he had drawn out in his head. The black man swerved across a corner, narrowly avoiding a crowd of hos that had been directly in his path. He sighed and wiped a few beads of sweat on his forehead; this was harder than he had expected.

He had neglected to tell the crew about his plan to rescue their leader before he left. He figured that if he was able to get his friend out alive, the least he could do was surprise everybody about it. Everyone in the Saints' had been mostly down in the dumps about the entire Liz ordeal, especially since it caused everyone's favorite drinking and combat buddy to not be around. Without a true leading body, the Saints had been lazing around like sitting ducks.

As Pierce pulled into the parking lot and saw the reporting vans waiting anxiously around the building, an odd sense of pressure was building on his ego. There had to be at least ten anchors babbling and repeating the same information constantly, and among them was the infamous Jane Valderamma. If the Saints ever had something going on, the whole damn town knew _she _was the one that was going to report it.

The lieutenant slammed the purple door shut and tucked his weapon in his back pocket before striding up to the white steps of the municipal structure. All at once, camera whirred towards him and the shouts from everyone from paparazzi to journalists. It was sensory overload; he had been used to the cameras, but even for Stilwater this was outright bizarre. The Saints were famous millionaires, but it was then that he realized how serious this trial was.

He had known that his friend could have possibly been put to death, but he had not realized that it would really truly happen.

All at once, he pushed past the people in his way and heaved himself towards the sizable doors that stood between him and the trial. He slipped his hand in his pocket and slipped out his pistol before beginning his solo siege on the Stilwater District Judicial Branch.

If Liz was able to run a one man show with just a pistol, he could sure as hell do it too.

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**Could you tell that I didn't edit that? I'm battling exhaustion...lol. Time to go play some more Skyrim.**


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